Lumsdale Falls flows into a beautiful rugged gorge, which feels a world away from the bustling town of Matlock; in reality it’s a mere five minute drive. The walk to the falls is very short and passes by a series of ivy covered ruins, which are incredibly atmospheric - just like a scene from an old novel. The walk is easy, although there are some stairs to negotiate.
It’s a lovely spot at any time of year, but you’ll find the falls at their best after a decent downpour. There are a couple of different options for reaching the falls, depending on where you’re able to find parking, and we cover both in this post.
The walk to Lumsdale Falls
The stats
Distance: 200m or 1.6km return, depending on where you park
Elevation gain: 50m
Difficulty: Easy
The quickest route to Lumsdale Falls
The quickest route to the falls begins by Lumsdale House on Lumsdale Road (parking is free of charge), but there’s only enough room for around three cars. This is fine on quiet weekdays outside of peak season, but can fill quickly at other times.
If you are able to snag a space here, then the walk is just 100m each way, and that includes reaching the upper falls. You’ll have 73 steps to climb, as it’s basically uphill all the way, but it’s in relatively good condition and passes by a couple of the atmospheric mill ruins.
If you don’t manage to get a space here you have to walk for slightly longer, but it’s a pleasant stroll and only takes around 10 minutes each way.
The slightly longer walk to Lumsdale Falls
This version starts just by Highfields School (at the northern end of Lumsdale Road) where there is plenty of free parking available. You need to begin walking along the road in a southerly direction.
Although you are walking along the road at first, it’s a quiet country lane and there are plenty of beautiful trees to admire. We visited in autumn when there was some lovely colour to enjoy along the way.
After 140m you’ll see a sign for the Lumsdale Valley which you follow. Around 80m later you’ll see a turn off on your left, there’s a large sign here and a path leading to some further old mill sites. Unfortunately we were running short on time and wanted to make sure we had plenty of time at the falls, so we continued on, but you might want to take a look.
Continuing down the road you’ll pass two ponds. When you reach the second pond you can either walk along the country lane, or beside the water.
If you walk beside the pond and then into the little patch of woodland, you’ll then have to climb a stile to get back onto the country lane.
As you continue along the lane, you’ll see some parts of the mill are closed and barricaded off.
Don’t be deterred because there’s an open gate (provided you are walking during the mill opening hours, details below) on the left a little further along the lane (650m into the walk).
You’ll walk down a few uneven stone steps, past a ruin and you’ll arrive at the top of Lumsdale Falls 100m after passing through the gate.
Lumsdale Falls
The top of Lumsdale Falls looked nothing like I expected. Granted I hadn’t actually looked at any pictures beforehand, but I’d kind of expected that a waterfall this close to the town wouldn’t be so unique.
The waterfall itself is very pretty, but it’s the setting that makes it extra special.
It sits right next to one of the abandoned mill buildings which is slowly being reclaimed by nature and there is barely a brick left untouched.
It has that crumbling romantic feel to it and it’s unlike any waterfall we’ve seen in England so far.
Once you’ve taken in the top of the falls you can continue down the staircase for 50m to reach the middle falls. This is the bit that really feels like you’re in a gorge.
The water cascades through the narrow chasm and you’re surrounded by craggy cliff walls, giving it a wild feel.
There are plenty of rocks to sit on and relax beside the water, and it was a lovely peaceful spot.
The view of the falls you’ll see from the main pathway is side on, if you want a front on view you need to walk a few metres down the dirt track you’ll see beside the main path.
This is just a few metres long, but steep and slippery when wet - take care and we’d recommend shoes with good grip if it’s been raining.
One you’ve seen the middle falls, you’ve seen the best of the waterfall. The rest is more like a set of cascades, so you could turn back at this point.
However, continuing a further 50m to the end of the walk will mean you see the most atmospheric set of ruins. It’s downhill on more stone steps, but it’s worth it to take a look at the crumbling old mill.
It’s worth noting that you can’t go inside the ruins though, you can only view them from the trail.
After this you would turn back and retrace your steps up to the parking area again.
Lumsdale Falls opening hours
The waterfall is accessible from Monday at 9am to Friday at 8pm every week, apart from bank holidays. Outside of these times the gates will be closed.
Getting to Lumsdale Falls
Lumsdale Falls is located just outside the town of Matlock in the Peak District. It’s around a five minute drive from the town centre. You could also walk it, but you’re adding about a mile or so each way to the total trail distance.
It’s around a 30 minute drive from Bakewell, 35 minutes from Ashbourne and 50 minutes from Sheffield.
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